Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
During my years of services in the government, I have spent a great deal of time studying and managing the spectrum of threats to our borders as well as the diverse ways in which those threats are moved across the border.
As we approached our work, my colleagues and I looked to the U.S. Constitution for guidance. It states, 'No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.' No person, no exceptions.
On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton emphasized her experience. Yes, experience matters, but judgment matters more. Despite her experience, Hillary Clinton's poor decisions have produced bad results. Just think about it.
As we learned after President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley tariff at the outset of the Great Depression, vibrant international trade is a key component to economic recovery; hindering trade is a recipe for disaster.
While we don't have the authority on the state level to change federal policy, my fellow governors and I do have a duty to protect our states' citizens, and we have a personal responsibility to act when we have the power to do so.
Like all Americans, Arkansans hurt for the Syrian refugees. The hardships they face are beyond most of our understanding, and my thoughts and prayers are with them, but I will not support a policy that poses real risk to Americans.
When I was involved in the initial creation of the Department of Homeland Security, we were given a clear twofold mission. The first part of the mission was to secure our borders. The second was to maintain the free and efficient flow of commerce and people.
I believe it is our values and our ideals that ultimately bind us together as a nation. But it is the English language which serves as the means by which we can communicate these values to those around us. Our common language, English, is that which unites us.
The Constitution gives us a standard to follow. We cannot define impeachable offenses to a greater degree than the language of the Constitution. But we all agree the issue is the public trust. Our duty is not to punish anyone. And our challenge is to avoid pettiness.
I have serious challenges with Donald Trump and his messaging that is going to make it more difficult for us to bring in minorities, Hispanics, into the party and into our voting base in November. I would be concerned about him carrying the banner for the Republican Party.
To suggest that immigration is the exclusive domain of the federal government, disallowing partnerships with local law enforcement, defies the will of Congress, not to mention reality. Numerous local jurisdictions have laws on the books dealing with immigration in a variety of ways.
We get divided generationally and in other ways - libertarians versus more traditional social conservatives, for example - and we've got to provide some flexibility there. But we don't need to have quite so many litmus tests. We need to have our big picture focused on economic issues.
We have a lot of things to work through. But the American people need to have confidence that we`re going to change things, but we`re going to move us in to a direction of more decisions and more choices, and not a diminishing of responsibility and care that people are really relied upon.
Proper training and federal supervision in state-federal partnerships are essential to both assuring constitutional rights and enforcing our immigration laws. Our Founding Fathers' concept of federalism does not prohibit such cooperation, and we have learned from experience that joint efforts work best.
To argue that it is unconstitutional for local law enforcement to be a legitimate partner in immigration enforcement is shortsighted. It is evidence of a lack of commitment to securing our borders and a lack of appreciation for the proper role of the states in supporting federal law enforcement priorities.